Games and Music

After seeing Powergloveopen for Dragonforce this past Wednesday I’ve had video game music on the brain. Apparently SF/F web zine Strange Horizons has a direct feed to my thoughts as they posted a thoughtful essay on the topic, which attempts to explain how music in games differs from music in other media. A post about Left 4 Dead over at Gamers with Jobs also had some interesting comments about the music from the first Halo game. I hadn’t realize quite how intertwined gameplay and audio were in that series but as this interview proves, Martin O’Donnell (composer) is intimatley aware of the subtle complexities involved in the creating a game soundtrack. However one might feel about the Halo series they’ve always done production value well and that transaltes into some truly stunning and engaging music that is memorable and epic in scope.

Anyhoo, just some thoughts on this exhausting post-holiday Monday. Be sure to check out Music 4 Games for news/review of the last video games soundtracks and music.